A customer exits from a KFC outlet in Dhaka. A change in lifestyle and consumer demand for safe and hygienic food motivated some local companies to invest in chain restaurant business.Photo: STAR

Big firms are pouring investment in chain restaurant business, driven by a growing trend of eating-out among urban people.
Consumer demand for safe and hygienic food has also encouraged some local conglomerates to enter such business, operators said.
Three local giants have been on the scene for quite some time: Transcom Group, Opex Sinha Textile and MGH Group. CP Bangladesh, a fully foreign-owned agri- and food business company, prepares to grab a portion of the market.
Steady economic growth and demand for hygienic and quality foods have encouraged big businesses to pump in funds either to start franchises of global brands or build their own.
“We have seen a huge opportunity in the food industry. Here demand for safe food is high compared to supply,” said Khanthima Mongsai, general manager (food division) of CP Bangladesh, one of the leading poultry and feed industry operators in the country.
She said the first product, fried chicken, would hit the market under the brand name of 'Five Star'.
CP's move to sign up for the segment comes as some local and global chain restaurants are on an expansion drive.
Insiders said the market has been growing by around 10 percent for the last couple of years. Its size is Tk 200 crore now.
“The nation is moving forward with a vibrant economy that enables more and more people to become financially empowered and taste quality and hygienic foods,” said Akku Chowdhury, executive director of Transcom Foods Ltd.
Transcom Foods, the franchisee of one of the popular chain restaurants in the world, operates five KFC outlets in Dhaka and Chittagong. The company plans to open four more, including one in Cox's Bazar, next year.
The company, which is also the franchisee of a global chain restaurant, Pizza Hut, has four outlets in Dhaka and Chittagong and plans to open two more next year.
“If you want to offer a global brand with better quality and hygienic and better products, you will have to have large investment which is not possible for small businesses,” Chowdhury said.
He said many people find eating-out to be an entertainment as well as a means of entertaining guests.
“It's also because of a change in lifestyle as the time to prepare foods at home is shrinking for many.”
Nizamul Karim Chowdhury, executive director of local chain restaurant, BFC, a concern of Opex Sinha Textile Group, said youths and executives from local and multinational firms are the main customers of branded fast foods.
“The food habit is changing. Many people don't eat rice for lunch anymore,” said Nizamul of BFC, which will open its eighth outlet in Dhaka.
Mohit-ul-Bari, head of operation of MGH Restaurants Pvt Ltd, said the company signed up for food business considering the opportunity created by a rise in peoples' purchasing capacity.
“A lot of opportunities are there in food business,” said the official of MGH Restaurants, a franchisee of South African restaurant chain Nando's and coffee shop Barista.
However, Transcom Foods' Akku Chowdhury said the scale of operation is important to ensure good returns.
“It requires long-term investment and returns come much later,” Chowdhury said.
Meanwhile, US-based global restaurant chain Pizza Inn opened its first outlet in Uttara, Dhaka on Saturday.
“A trend of having alien foods is growing among customers,” said Nazmul Anwar Jewel, director (operations) of Mohammed Foods and Allied Pvt Ltd, the franchisee of the restaurant chain in Bangladesh.
The company plans for several outlets in major cities by next year.

[email protected]